[Program title]Chic, le sport ! Ⅲ – L’attraction extrême de la montagne
[Film title] Gasherbrum – The Dark Glow of the Mountains
Le Come-back de Baquet
[Date] 2013.3.2 – 3.31
[Screen time] 69 min.
[Place] Maison Hermès 10F 5-4-1, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
Gasherbrum – The Dark Glow of the Mountains
1984 / Germany / 45 min / Color / 16mm
Director: Werner Herzog
Cinematography: Rainer Klausmann
Editor: Maximiliane Mainka
¬Cast: Reinhold Messner, Hans Kammerlander
Producer: Lucki Stipetic
Subtitle: Minako Yoshikawa
Distributor: Werner Herzog Film
Le Come-back de Baquet
1988 / France / 24 min / Color / 16mm
Director: Nicolas Philibert
Cinematography: Laurent Chevallier
Sound: Bernard Prud’homme
Editor: Marie Quinton
Subtitle: Jiro Terao
Distributor: Longride
Why are people captivated by mountains? In Gasherbrum – The Dark Glow of the Mountains, legendary climber Reinhold Messner and his partner tackle in succession two of the world’s most challenging 8,000+ meter peaks. In the midst of this white desert, film director Herzog questions just what it is that drives climbers to attempt such feats, and explores the human insanity of trying to make the impossible possible. The camera captures the crystal clear depths within the eyes of these men who seem possessed.
Set in the Alps, Le Come-back de Baquet follows Maurice Baquet as he attempts the south face of the Aiguille du Midi thirty-two years after he first climbed it with a close friend now deceased. The climbers ascend almost vertical cliffs with only blue sky at their backs, yet they seem to be enjoying themselves so much that they have forgotten the danger they court. The vista from the summit, the courage and vigor of a young Christophe Profit, Maurice Baquet as he kisses the rock face, the sound of a cello: this documentary refreshes the heart as it shares Baquet’s recollections from the past.